Author: Graham Reddoch

One of the benefits of living in a home on wheels is we can move it if need be.

This fall has been unusually wet and cold in Manitoba. Heavy rains in September caused the Red River floodway, that diverts water away from the City of Winnipeg, to be opened later in the year than ever in its history. Even so, the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, that converge in Winnipeg, are overflowing their banks. 

As previously mentioned, an early blizzard on October 11 brought down 3,000 trees in the city, as the leaves had not yet fallen and the weight of snow was too much for them. Thousands of residents lost hydro power, with some in the dark for almost three weeks. Some major city parks are still closed as the clean-up continues into November.

Betty & I had planned on leaving Manitoba on Nov. 8, after a Fleetwood Mac concert on the 7^th. We have had good tickets for the concert since April and fully expected the weather to co-operate until we were ready to go. But then two nights ago the water froze in our motorhome. Time for a change of plans…

The park where we have been staying this summer shut the water off to all of their sites a week ago, due to unseasonably cold forecasts. We have been drawing water from our fresh water tank and keeping our plumbing bay warmed with our furnace and a small supplementary heater. But somewhere between the fresh water tank and the water pump the line iced up, and we no longer had water to wash or flush.  Bad news!

Looking at the long-range forecast, the temperature may go down to -12c or -13c during nights next week, with daytime temps never above the freezing mark. As much as we like Fleetwood Mac, and would have enjoyed further visits with family and friends, it’s time to get outa Dodge, as Betty would say.

Today we are parked at our daughter Valerie’s home. We have added another heater to our basement and topped up our fresh water tank. Tomorrow Betty & I have dinner reservations as we celebrate our 45^th wedding anniversary. And the day after tomorrow is splitsville!

Sometimes it’s necessary to carve our plans in sand rather than granite. This is one of those times when we need to just roll with the punches.  And as we roll on down the road, we hope you also can make the required adjustments to deal with whatever comes your way.

Cheers! 

“So long ago
Certain place
Certain time
You touched my hand
All the way
All the way down to Emmeline

But if our paths never cross
Well, you know I’m sorry but

If I live to see the seven wonders
I’ll make a path to the rainbow’s end
I’ll never live to match the beauty again
The rainbow’s end” Seven Wonders, Fleetwood Mac

As mentioned in our last post, a cold front is moving into Manitoba this week, so Betty & I have decided to move out. We are now in a race to stay ahead of the cold, which appears to be following us south. 

We had one last enjoyable visit with some of our family before leaving Winnipeg. Our border crossing was uneventful, and we made our first stop in Fargo, North Dakota, to top up with gas and food.

After a quick power nap in the Walmart parking lot, we drove south on Interstate 29 to a rest area near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, arriving shortly after midnight. The next day we made it to Waubonsie State Park in Iowa, and felt the sun starting to warm us.

Next was a side trip to Hamilton, Missouri, a small town that is home to 12 quilt shops! Who would have thought that people from all over the world would travel to this spot with a dozen stores focussed on all things quilting? I guess the answer to that is “Betty”. lol. 

After a couple of warm days at A Country Charm RV Park in Hamilton, the cold weather was starting to catch up to us, so it was time to leave. Passing through Kansas City, we headed down Interstate 49 to Joplin, Missouri. Thanks to a school project our granddaughter, Isabella, is working on, we stopped in at the National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum in Joplin, taking a tour, a few pics, and free cookie cutter samples along the way.

We had a warm night at a nice Interstate 44 rest area just east of Joplin, but the cold air continues to follow us. Time to keep going…

Cheers!

Well yes, before Betty & I set out on our marvellous adventure, we both retired. In fact, we both failed retirement and had to do it over again. But this post is not about that experience. Yesterday began a whole new re-tirement experience.

We were on Interstate 40 between Fort Smith and Little Rock, Arkansas, when two men in a pick-up truck pulled up beside us and waved for us to pull over. We had blown a tire on our Smart car!

Given that we have a Tireminder tire pressure monitoring system (tpms) on all motorhome and towed vehicle tires, you might wonder why we didn’t already know that.  Well, let me explain.

Nearly all summer long, the rear tire on the driver’s side of the Smart would lose about 1 -2 psi a week: Not much, but enough for the internal tpms to trigger every couple of weeks. I added a little air each time and we were good to go again. But before we left on this trip I finally took it into Fountain Tire in Winnipeg, where the tires had been installed (We installed all new tires on our motorhome and car last year), and they determined that the leak appeared to be from a loose external tpms sensor, not from the tire.

So we left Winnipeg in an attempt to outrun the cold front that was moving in, and everything was good until yesterday morning. Before leaving the nice rest area in Joplin, Missouri (with dedicated rv parking adjacent to attractive picnic shelters) I ran the Tireminder through its cycle, to ensure that all tires were good to go. Unfortunately, that same rear Smart tire registered low. But fortunately, I had purchased a new lithium battery air compressor at Canadian Tire, to replace the compressor whose battery had finally died after over 10 years of use. I pumped up the tire, and off we went.

Not far down the Interstate, I got a slow leak warning message from that tire. As soon as I could, I pulled over and topped it up again. When the slow leak warning returned a few miles down the road, we Googled local tire repair shops, and pulled into a small tire shop in Neosho, Missouri, to have it checked. A friendly staff member topped up the tire and did a quick check for leaks. He tightened the valve stem, and volunteered that he thought the tpms sensor was causing the leak. He recommended removing them from all tires, but then I would be flying blind.  Because he had tightened the valve stem and sensor, I hoped our problem was solved.

When we got to Bentonville, Arkansas, the warning returned, and Betty & I pulled into a Walmart parking lot to check it out. While I re-filled the tire, Betty re-filled our wine rack with wally wine from the store. At that point I removed the tpms sensor and put a regular cap on the valve stem. We decided I would pull over again at the next rest area to check the tire with a gauge. But the rest areas on Interstates 49 and 40 were few and far between. Eleven miles from the rest stop we had programmed into our gps, the tire blew…

With heavy traffic whipping by us at 70 mph, I pulled to the side and called AAA. They were great in getting a flatbed out to us, and we followed it and our Smart to Murders Automotive in Clarksville, Arkansas. That’s where our Smart sits, until a new tire can be delivered and installed, hopefully next Monday.

In the meantime, Betty and I are enjoying a beautiful riverside site (D3) in Spadra Park, Clarksville. It includes 30 amp service and water for $17./night, a couple of cement patios and sturdy picnic table, and wonderful water and sunset views. It’s a very quiet park, except for the last train to Clarksville that just went by a few minutes ago. lol (For the younger crowd reading this, you may need to Google The Monkees, who sang about that in 1966.)  

So retirement has its ups and downs for Betty and me. Sometimes we are deflated by unforeseen experiences, but for the most part we are pumped about our overlandish odyssey. Best wishes for enjoyable times without the blow-outs!

Cheers!

“The stars at night
Are big and bright
Deep in the heart of Texas

The prairie sky
Is wide and high
Deep in the heart of Texas…”

The song Deep In The Heart of Texas, was written by June Hershey and recorded by a number of artists in 1942 – including singing cowboy Gene Autry. It came to mind last week as Betty & I watched the stars in the clear night sky at the ever-amazing Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just south of Amarillo, Texas.  We have covered a lot of territory since our last post, with almost all deep in the heart of this supersized state. So this post is a bit of a catch-up.

After our new tire was installed in Clarksville, Arkansas, Betty & I made our way to a nice little campground called Lovin’ Life RV Park, just west of Texarkana. It is owned and operated by Sirron & Nicole, who obviously have a deeply warm heart for Texas. We stayed a few days while Tom Dansby of RV Medic and Solar installed four new lithium batteries in our coach. What a joy to be able to maintain and monitor our power supply while boondocking!

From Texarkana we headed across northern Texas, stopping for the night at a quiet rest area west of Wichita Falls.

Next day we arrived at the truly breathtaking Palo Duro Canyon, where we spent three nights in site 91 of Mesquite campground. We had originally booked six nights, but that cold front from Canada continued to chase after us. With forecasts of below freezing overnight temperatures, we decided to move back up the side of the canyon, and then on down the road to the south.

We are currently in site #85 of Guadalupe River State Park, just north of San Antonio, and are hoping to make the mandatory visit to the Riverwalk tomorrow.

The Texas Society of Professional Surveyors (measuring by satellite the exact distance between the state’s four borders) places the “geodetic” center of Texas 18.5 miles west-southwest of Eden. And it was in a rest stop deep in the heart of Texas – just outside of Eden – that we spent a quiet night between Amarillo and San Antonio. While you can’t get much closer to the heart of Texas than that, we continue to be blessed by the friendliness of the good people we have met so far in this state where everything just seems a little bigger.

“The coyotes wail
Along the trail
Deep in the heart of Texas

The cowboys cry
“Ka-yippie aye!” (Woo-hoo!)
Deep in the heart of Texas

The doggies bawl
And say “you all”
Deep in the heart of Texas”

Cheers y’all!

Well, this post was intended to be entitled “On The Beach!”, but you know where good intentions can get you. No, we are not on the paved road to hell: We are at Padre Balli Park on North Padre Island. While it is fairly hot – currently 29c – it is far from hell on earth!

Let me explain how we got here.

As previously noted, our travel plans are best written in jello – or in this case sand. From Palo Duro Canyon we had planned on heading west to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but the cold weather was arcing down, bringing below freezing overnight temperatures. So we cancelled our reservation at Hyde Memorial State Park and headed southeast instead. 

The end of our last post had us situated at Guadalupe River State Park, on the northern outskirts of San Antonio. And it was our intention to head east from there to camp ON THE BEACH at either Magnolia Beach or Port Aransas, Texas – two Gulf of Mexico locations that allow free ocean-side camping.  

This all made possible, of course, by our new lithium batteries. But in addition to electricity, one needs water, and somehow our fresh water tank sprang a leak. We have an appointment next Tuesday at Iron Horse RV in San Antonio to have the tank repaired, but in the meantime we booked a full service site at a Nueces County park, next to the beach, just outside Corpus Christi.  

As many know, Betty & I are not DIY people, but since we were here for Black Friday week, we thought we’d take the time to switch out our old microwave oven for a new one. Some time back the little plastic post that rotates the glass tray broke off, and crazy glue has not fixed it. More recently the button one pushes to open the door also broke, and we have been forced to use a crowbar to open the microwave: Likely not the safest method. lol.  So we were due. All we needed was to remove the old oven and verify the available space. Easier said than done. Betty & I fought with the screws and bolts that hold it together for more than an hour before throwing in the towel. We just hope Iron Horse RV has the time and better luck in removing the obstinate oven! 

In the meantime, we are forced to sit back and relax at the beach. My margarita at the Iron Cactus restaurant on San Antonio’s Riverwalk came with a souvenir mug, so I have been obligated to keep it filled and in reach ever since. 

Betty & I would say that Padre Balli Park is far closer to heaven on earth than the other direction. Regardless of our intentions, we are more than happy with the paved road that lead us to our heavenly spot at the beach.

Cheers, and congrats to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for their Canadian Football League Grey Cup win!

“Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys
Between Hank Williams’ pain songs and
Newberry’s train songs and Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain
Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain.”

Ok, Waylon Jennings sang a catchy tune that made Betty & I look for this small town near picturesque Fredericksburg, Texas. When we arrived at our Harvest Host destination – the Messina Hof Winery – we asked the staff for directions. Turns out the road we took from San Antonio through Texas Hill Country passed by Luckenbach, so I guess we blinked and missed it. lol

Since travelling far enough south to avoid the cold that seemed to chase us all the way from Canada, Betty & I are now westward ho, to our winter destination in Arizona.

After taking one last visit to the beaches of North Padre Island and Mustang Island, we headed inland to San Antonio, where we had an appointment at Iron Horse RV to repair the leak in our fresh water tank, and replace our now-destroyed microwave oven.

It turned out the leak was just a matter of tightening a loose connection – no parts required. Yeah! But our microwave was another story. The old oven had won the battle when Betty & I tried to remove it, but it was no match for Iron Horse super technician, Tony, who removed it and replaced it with a new more energy efficient convection/ microwave/ grill that looks like it has always been there. No small feat for this odd-sized space! Tony was also able to seal up an unnecessary vent that did nothing but channel cold air into our coach whenever the temperature outside dropped.

There are a number of wineries in Texas Hill Country, and Betty & I were able to sample and purchase a selection of Messina Hof Winery tasty offerings, before crashing for the night in their parking lot.

We marvelled at the wide range of terrain as we travelled west, with the next night spent in a dirt lot adjacent to the Fort Stockton Walmart. For the last couple of days we have been thoroughly enjoying camping in the dunes of Monahans Sandhills State Park, but are now headed west toward El Paso.

As we head west, this may be our last day in the everything’s bigger state of Texas. It’s been a great adventure so far, and there ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain.

Cheers! 

If you remember back to Betty’s daily exclamation at Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park (March 2018), there were a lot of very tall dramatic cacti keeping watch around our motorhome. Well, we’re back in Tucson, and in fact parked again in site A56 beside the same supersized succulent: A frickin big cactus! 

Our westward journey from Monahans Sandhills State Park included overnight stops in El Paso, Texas and Wilcox, Arizona, with some awesome scenery along Interstate 10 through New Mexico. Rather than driving straight to Tucson, we veered south to the old wild west town of Tombstone, site of the shoot-out at the OK Corral and tons of western memorabilia.   

Tombstone had been a silver mining town, but tourism now appears its major industry. A number of blocks are dedicated to western wear, western jewellery, saloons, gun fights, and all things glorifying the old wild west. Coach rides are available up and down the dusty streets.

Betty & I watched a re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral, along with a film and animated set depicting the history of the town. We took a stroll down the board sidewalks and peeked into a few shops. Fortunately, as full-timers in a tiny house, we were not tempted to add any bric-a-brac or other mementos to our current collection.

We drove the long way around to Tucson, intending to stay on BLM land to the west of the city. Arriving at dusk, we took our life (and our home on wheels) in our hands, driving off-road into a large tract of land dotted with RVs of all shapes and sizes. Following a dirt path through the scrub brush, we came to a small clearing that appeared perfect for our motorhome and Smart. This was to be our free home base for the next couple of days!

Shortly after pulling in, a lady drove up and warned us that the spot where we had parked was a spongy patch of burnt orange clay (She had a technical term for the type of clay, but we had never heard of it). If we stayed, we might find our rig sinking down to the point where a tow truck would be needed to get us out. Just getting into the site was a very risky proposition, and getting out seemed like it could be even more treacherous, with a steep bank that was partly eroded by a recent rain.  We just had to laugh at our improbable situation as I gunned the motor to extricate us from the potential quagmire. 

Thanks to our guardian angel, we moved on to solid ground at Gilbert Ray Campground, as it was then too dark to scout out other free parking. Even though we don’t need the 30 amp electrical service that comes with our site, the $20./ night charge is worth it for the amazing views provided at the site. 

Betty went for a hike on one of the many trails through Tucson Mountain Park, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of one great big frickin cactus after another. We still have a couple more days here before heading north to Phoenix, but with so many pics of the perfectly prickly stuff, I just needed to put up a post.

Cheers! 

“Stay, ah just a little bit longer…”

As Betty & I traverse the continent on this overlandish odyssey, it can be accurately noted that we are continuing to learn as we go. Prior to our departure in December, 2017, I mapped out a 5-year plan that would take us to 48 states and 10 provinces, keeping us at moderate temperatures throughout the journey. We are now at the end of our second year, having already visited 37 states and 6 provinces. It is definitely time to slow down!

Our return visit to Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson was planned as a 2 day stop, rather than 3, but the Maricopa County web site for Lake Pleasant campgrounds near Phoenix didn’t allow for next day booking, and site A56 at the Tucson area park was as stunning as we remembered it from our earlier visit, so we stayed a little bit longer.

And our stay at Lake Pleasant was to be 3 days, rather than 5. While our first site (#139) in Desert Tortoise Campground was a large spot in a small cul-de-sac jutting out into the lake, the parking pad was steeply sloped and it was impossible to level our coach.

After a nice visit with our neighbours from Bracebridge, Ontario, Betty & I scouted other sites, and found a beautiful spot in Roadrunner Campground (#23). We set up and realized that it has one of the most amazing views of any campsite so far!

So we’ve booked it for another couple of days at $32./night, including water, 50 amp service, a solid picnic table & shelter, and a fire ring – And you can’t beat that view!

We are learning to be more fluid in our travel planning, and to sit back and enjoy the great spots and fine weather when we find them. Here’s hoping that your journey through life can also have its most pleasant moments, and you can stay in them just a little bit longer.

Cheers!

“Stay, ah just a little bit longer,
Please, please, please, please, please,
Tell me that you’re going to

Now your Daddy don’t mind,
And your Mommy don’t mind,
If we have another dance, yeah,
Just one more, one more time.

Oh won’t you stay, just a little bit longer,
Please let me hear you say that you will
Say you will..”

Songwriter: Cedric Allen Williams

Some one-of-a-kind places just defy easy description. Yesterday Betty & I returned to one of them. Quartzsite, Arizona is a most quirky community that has to be seen and felt to be believed. We came for two weeks on the first leg of our overlandish odyssey, and decided that we should try a longer stay, now that we have solar panels and lithium batteries to keep us powered up in the desert. It became a major destination for the current leg of our adventure. Arriving yesterday, we are still getting acclimatized again, and have much, much more to experience in this off-the-beatnik-path wonderland. But I thought I’d provide another brief introduction.

Cheers!

Well this is different. For the first time in 40 years Betty & I are celebrating Christmas without our family. It is also the first Christmas where we are sitting outside in the Arizona sun, without a hint of snow in the air or on the ground. Like the character Tevye in “Fidler On The Roof” we are a family steeped in tradition, and are definitely not accustomed to breaking all those customs. This is very different!

Yes, we enjoyed some FaceTime with our family a couple of days ago, while they joined together for the traditional Chinese food pre-Christmas meal. And Betty & I did get our annual FaceTime with the Queen today, as she delivered her Christmas message. (Note to our kids, in case you missed it: I saved a copy on our VCR, so you can see it when you come down to Phoenix for a belated Christmas celebration next month. lol)

In the meantime, we truly miss this traditional time with each of our kids and grandkids, especially our dear granddaughter, Georgia, who had to spend a very non-traditional Christmas eve night and part of Christmas day in Winnipeg’s Children’s Hospital as she prepares for surgery to have her appendix removed tomorrow! Here’s expecting another great story to tell about a very memorable Christmas, and a most unique Boxing Day present!

While the Christmas carols we sang at church on Sunday were traditional, the church itself was far from it. We were still on BLM land at Quartzsite, with very few structures in the desert. On Sundays, the picnic shelter doubles as a church, and it was in that outdoor space that we sang “Oh Come All Ye Faithfull” and other favourites, led by a cowboy preacher in the appropriate hat and boots.

 We have no room for a Christmas tree in our motorhome, and Christmas decorations are few and far between, except for the ornaments we passed on this Lake Havasu City tree, which was next to a fully loaded orange tree, which was in front of two palm trees and a thriving cactus. You don’t see that every day in Winnipeg. lol 

Yes, this is all very different. But the reason for the season remains the same. We hope to be reunited with our family again on FaceTime later today, and pray that we and you can enjoy a very happy Christmas and wonder-filled new year!  

Cheers!

“O come, all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels!

O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord

O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful to Bethlehem
O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful to Bethlehem

Oh, sing, choirs of angels
Sing in exultation
Oh, come, oh come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels

O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord…”